I looked up at theguard who was standing just beyond the sand and almost told him tofuck off. But I didn’t need the aggravation. Not right now. Irolled my eyes and stood up from the water,wringingmy hair outand then shaking it like a dog would. I walked over toward thegrass to find the guard, whom I had recognized as the same guardwho addressed me yesterday, holding a towel out to me. I think hisname was Eric? I took the towel from him and immediately begandrying off.
“Since when do Ineed to be in a bathing suit to go swimming?” I asked him as Idried my hair with the towel.
“Since Mr. Davissaid so. Now, come on,” he replied, ushering me toward thegrass.
I swear to God,Darren cared about the dumbest shit sometimes.
“What time is it?”I asked him as he escorted me back to thepatio.
“11:56. Pascal ispreparing your lunch for you now,” he saidsharply.
I nodded. “I’lljust have it on the patio,” I said.
“I’ll inform thestaff,” he replied.
My lunch consistedof a small Cobb salad with a lot ofavocadoand barely anyranch dressing. I also had a cup of mixed fruit and a yogurt withgranola. I fucking hated how my food selections were alwayshealthy. I typically ate healthy even before Darren, but there wereplenty of times when I would let loose and put myself in a diabeticfood coma. What I wouldn’t give for a giant bacon cheeseburger anda fucking beer.
After lunch, I hadabout a half an hour before my appointment, so I went upstairs towash the salt water from my hair and body. I grabbed a blackt-shirt and blackskortfrom mydrawers and walked over to my bed to pretend to get a good look atthe time on my clock. I then bent down, placed my clothes on thefloor next to the bed and pretended to scratch and observe myankle. I then quickly slipped my hand under my bed and grabbed thetwo soles of my shoes, sneaking them between my clothes and headinginto the bathroom. I placed my clothes on the counter and proceededto take a shower. When I was done, I made it seem like I simplychanged my mind and put on a loose gray dress. Since Darrenwouldn’t be around, I didn’t bother with much makeup, just enoughto cover my bruised face.
BythetimeI was done andready, the Russians were being led into my room without so much asa knock. The ladies strolled in with smiling faces while Eric gaveme a warning glare from outside before shutting thedoor.
Don’tworry, buddy, you’ll really be loving me by the end of thenight.
As the women beganto set up, Irina turned to me and began combing my wet hair, but asshe did, she stopped and noticed the large make-up covered bruiseon the side of my face. Her eyes immediately lit up with concern asher face began to soften. Her hand reached up for my cheek and herthumb grazed just along the outside, showing me herconcern.
I put my hand onher wrist and looked at her with caution in my eyes. I slowly shookmy head, telling her I was okay and not to make a spectacle out ofit. She then removed her hand and gave me a quick little nod,understanding my body language. She went back to combing my hairandpartingit for thecut.
When Anya wasready, I sat down at the table where Irina continued to trim awayat my strands while Anya took care of my nails. I eyed the nailglue that was conveniently close to me and I hoped I could swipe itwithout either of them noticing.
Anya made quickwork of my nails, butthis time,she painted them a bright Barbie pink. My face immediatelyturned to disgust at the hideous color. I knew Darren chose that onpurpose to piss me off. Whelp, I was really about to piss him offlater tonight.
When Anya andIrina finished, my hair was perfectly styled and my nails were backto their old Barbie ways. As Anya and Irina packed up, I managed toslip my hand over the nail glue and quickly put it in my pocket.Neither one of them noticed a thing. Anya was always so quick topack everything up, her nerves always getting the best of her, so Idoubted she would even notice.
Before they left,Irina gave me one last look of concern, her worry for my well-beingrefreshing but uncomfortable for me. I didn’t want them to end upthe same way the gardener had. I gave Irina a quick, sly wink, andshe seemed to receive it well.
The rest of my daywent without issue. I hid the glue in my bathroom cabinet and wentdown to the theater to finally watch the entire final seasonofSons ofAnarchy, but it just mademe anxious to ride off on one of Darren’s motorcycles. I had toadmit the ending did piss me off, but I could see it coming a mileaway.
I had dinner alonein the dining room, a guard standing watch not far behind. It feltlike I was rarely out of someone’s sights; the only place thatdidn’t contain a guard was my bedroom, but I was sure they werewatching me through the cameras. I just hoped it wasn’t everysecond of every day.
Around teno’clock, I headed back to my room, washed my face, brushed myteeth, and got ready for bed. I looked at the bottled vase on mydresser, noticing the flowers now looked somewhat old enough tothrow out. I took the bottle into the bathroom, dumped out thewater, threw the flowers in the trash, and left thebottleonmy counter. I thenreturned to my room, turned on my fireplace, and sat down in frontof the flames to meditate for a while. I felt the warmth of thefire as I listened to my breathing. My body relaxed, one muscle ata time, as I quieted my mind to perfectsilence.
In and out, mychest slowly rose and fell with each deep breath I took, and withinten minutes, I was calm and ready. I went to bed at 11:00 p.m. onthe dot without a fuss, but of course, I barely got a moment’sworth of sleep—too damn amped up.
I basically staredat the clock until 2:59 clicked to 3:00 a.m.
Gameon.
ChapterThirty-Eight
Escape
Like a cat onarooftop, I silentlyslipped from my sheets, grabbed the matches from my drawer,clutching them in my fist, and headed to the bathroom. I quicklyused the toilet, making it seem like I was just going to thebathroom. I had no idea if someone was watching me 24/7. I reallydoubted it, but after tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if someonehad to start following me around everywhere Iwent.
I kept thebathroom lights off as I took the two soles of my shoes and beganto glue the ends together with the nail glue. They stuck togetheralmost instantly. I allowed the glue to dry as I grabbed theglass-bottled vase and placed it in the cabinet. My heart began topound away in my chest as I filled the bottle with a little bathoil and lots of rubbing alcohol. I then tucked a thin washclothinto the bottle, allowing it to soak in the solution and left therest hanging out of the top. I then walked to the window of mybathroom and opened the screen.
Mybedroomledout to the patio,and right below my bathroom window was the barbecue equipped with afull propane tank. I set the bottle down on the window ledge, tooka deep breath … and struck the match. This was it. No going backnow.
I lit the clothand threw the match out the window. I watched the flame claimthemakeshiftwick,realizing that after this, everything was going to change. All itwould take was one final push and everything would quite literallyexplode. Consequences be damned. I wanted Darren to know he wasn’tfucking with no ordinary bitch. He wanted a challenge? Well, goodbecause I was about to turn up the heat. I took one final breath,releasing it slowly through my mouth,andfinally smiled as I lightly pushed thebottle with my fingertip and watched it fall out of thewindow.
